BEST GOAT EARLY, GOAT OFTEN (2009)

You can order any kind of food you want at Birrieria Jalisco in Boyle Heights, as long as it's a plate of richly spiced goat. This makes ordering easy for the Spanish-impaired, since all your monolingual waitress needs to know is which goat you want: numeros uno through seis. And what of BJ's sole main ingredient? The meat is lean, rich in flavor, but hardly spicy hot. Bones are easily avoided, while the broth begs to be soaked up by the layers of steamy tortillas on the side. The flavor and speedy delivery suggests that the goat has been stewing for hours, meat softening and soaking in spices, just waiting for you to arrive. Add chopped onion, a squeeze of lime, and you're good to goat. Dessert, somewhat surprisingly, consists of four non-goat options: arroz con leche, flan, and jericalla, which tastes like flan's refrigerated, cinnamony cousin, a blue-collar crème brulée. Six flavors of raspados are also available for slurping. The main dishes cost $5 to $12, which should leave you with enough change to fire up a norteño tune on the I-can't-believe-it's-not-too-loud jukebox. On your way out, be sure to tip your sombrero to the melancholy black-and-white photo of the restaurant's late founder Don Bonifacio Gonzàles and his wife, Doña Petra. —Todd Krainin